Is anyone going to challenge the CBDC juggernaut?

Written as a City A.M. column in May 2023, the piece describes a conference called The CBDC Revolution, attended by organisations including the Bank for International Settlements, the Digital Pound Foundation, SWIFT, the Bank of England and Ripple. The column argues that central bank digital currencies had received little media coverage, and points to technical documentation under which payment interface providers would hold users’ money and data.

The column says bitcoin was mentioned at the conference only to undermine it, with misinformation about the technology, and argues that bitcoin could address the features being discussed. It notes that the Bank of England’s consultation was then due to end on 7 June and predicted that a national discussion would begin only once the roadmap was set, as a media campaign. The column describes a centralised digital currency as a ticking timebomb that a tyrant or malicious entity could exploit.